For the Syrian Initiative for the Freedom of Leader Abdullah Ocalan, by Mr. Mahmood Patel, Chairman of the Kurdish Working Group for Human Rights, South Africa
We, the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group in South Africa (KHRAG), support the Syrian Initiative for the Freedom of Leader Abdullah Öcalan. We further support all international initiatives seeking the freedom of Leader Abdullah Öcalan which we have done consistently since Leader Öcalan’s incarceration.
In 1999, Kurdish peoples’ leader Abdullah Öcalan, who was en route to South Africa for political asylum assured by Mr Nelson Mandela, was abducted as a result of an international conspiracy and subsequently imprisoned in Imrali Island Prison. Despite this, leader Abdullah Öcalan remains central to Kurdish struggles for autonomy and democracy in Turkey and the region. Leader Öcalan’s theories continue to inspire global movements for freedom, dignity, including women’s liberation. As a key interlocutor within ongoing process for Peace and Democratic Society, and legitimate representative of the Kurdish people, the conditions must be created for Mr. Öcalan to participate fully in the process, and be released as soon as possible, unconditionally. The implementation of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) 2014 decision on the “Right to Hope” as a key legal driver remains crucial in recognizing Leader Öcalan’s right to have his case reassessed, and eventually to secure his freedom. The AKP does not approach the Peace and Democratic Society Process with the Kurds with the seriousness and sincerity, concretely.
The Treaty of Lausanne, signed on 24 July 1923 enabled the capitalist system to gain a global hegemonic structure. Initially, Britain and France, then the US as the leaders of global capitalist hegemony, accepted the foundation of the Turkish state on the basis of Kurdish genocide. On this basis, the Republic of Turkey was established on 29 October 1923, and immediately imposed genocide on the Kurds, a policy that the global capitalist system has consistently supported. The Kurdish question is defined by a multi-faceted genocide imposed on the Kurdish people. Today, a nation of more than fifty million faces a century-long policy of physical massacres, forced displacement, demographic engineering, and forced assimilation. The existence of the Kurdish people has been denied, with every method employed to destroy them, while Kurdistan has been transformed into an area of Turkish national expansion through Turkification.
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers recently gave Turkey a deadline of June 2026 to implement the “Right to Hope” for life-sentenced prisoners. This resolution was adopted on 17 September 17 2025, and calls on Turkey to comply with multiple judgments from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Turkey’s refusal to implement decisions of the ECtHR is long-standing. This is a key opportunity for European institutions to take a clear position and support democratisation and justice for all in Turkey. The decisions of the court, and the mechanisms for their implementation are in place. What is needed now is political will, action that realises a commitment to democratic politics.
The “Call for Peace and Democratic Society” announced on 27 February 2025 by Leader Abdullah Öcalan, the founding leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who has been held in isolation by the Turkish state on İmralı Island for over 26 years, resonates internationally. In response to this call, the PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire and convened a congress soon thereafter, deciding to end its armed struggle against the Turkish state. Both Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s call and the PKK’s actions have created a historic opportunity for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question. This opportunity offers a strong basis not only for peace, but also for the realisation of freedom, equality, justice and democracy. In other words, for a genuine solution. This opportunity must not be wasted.
The approach of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan, the architect of the Peace and Democratic Society Process and the chief negotiator on behalf of the Kurds, is solution-oriented. Leader Öcalan himself has shown the utmost seriousness and determination, taking steps no one could have foreseen. Under his leadership, the PKK was brought to decisions concerning its dissolution and the end of its armed struggle strategy. This fostered the will for disarmament within the PKK. On the side of the state and government, however, the only response to these historic steps has been nothing more than a token monthly meeting with delegations. Öcalan’s position as a hostage on Imrali Island remains unchanged. In spite of this, the AKP government continues to demand new steps from him, applying intense psychological pressure.
In South Africa, the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group, other human rights organisations, trade unions and the South African Communist Party have been lobbying for the freedom of Leader Abdullah Öcalan for many years, focused on the physical freedom of Leader Abdullah Ocalan, premised as a moral and political duty. In general, all human rights organisations see Leader Öcalan as a hope for the oppressed people of Kurdistan, and a solution to the Kurdish question through dialogue and negotiation. For that to happen, it must be led by Leader Öcalan as the legitimate leader of the Kurdish people and the key to peace in the region. Like in South Africa negotiations started in earnest once all our leaders, including Mr Mandela, were released unconditionally. In other words, Mr Öcalan must be released immediately, as only free people can negotiate.
What more can a person held under such hostage conditions do? Clearly, anything beyond this would amount to surrender, and it is evident that the state and government are, in fact, trying to impose surrender. To attempt such demands upon a force like Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK, which has resisted for decades and sacrificed thousands of martyrs, is devoid of any sincere goodwill. The AKP government would do well to draw lessons from its own history of failure, rather than descending into a line even more regressive and fascist than that of the 12 September regime. It must cease insisting on further bloodshed and the creation of new martyrs.
Clearly, the AKP is not changing course. It is not seriously committed to democratising Turkey or to resolving the Kurdish question. A force genuinely committed to a solution would long ago have dismantled the Imrali system and provided Leader Abdullah Öcalan with the physical freedom required to lead the process in practice, just as Nelson Mandela did in South Africa. Under current conditions and with only a single, tightly supervised monthly delegation visit, what can Leader Abdullah Öcalan realistically do to manage the process? Therefore, the way Öcalan is treated most clearly indicates how seriously the process is not being taken. The work of the parliamentary commission has steadily lost its seriousness. Since its formation, the commission has been active and has conducted numerous hearings. Yet, for some reason, it has still not listened to Leader Abdullah Öcalan, the primary party to the issue and the one leading the process. Whether it will ever do so remains unclear. It can be said that in order to resolve such a serious problem, the broadest possible consensus must be created, and this requires listening to all voices. Undoubtedly, such an approach carries meaning. However, a commission that has not yet made clear what it is dealing with, that has not stated the problem, and that has drafted no plan, cannot inspire confidence. Its activities, instead of signifying seriousness, amount to little more than intentional strategic stalling.
The democratisation of Turkey and the resolution of the Kurdish question are matters of great seriousness, demanding the highest level of commitment from all who engage with them. For this reason, it is most appropriate to call on everyone, above all the AKP government, to act with seriousness. If we truly want to develop solutions, rather than simply wasting time or managing the existing situation, then there is no alternative but a serious and determined approach. Above all, it is crucial to expose and reject insincere attitudes.
Leader Öcalan reminds us: “One of the most important intentions pursued by the ideological hegemony of capitalist modernity is the obscuring and suppression of historical-social realities in connection with the concept and practice of truth. Under this hegemony, religion and philosophy were transformed into nationalism and the deification of the nation-state. Theory and practice were consecrated to the glorification and immortalization of the concepts and practices of nation-statism… the real problem, the threat to social identity, was dropped as an object of truth, an attempt was made to replace it with individualism. Human rights were misused in this context”.
The call for peace and democratic society by Leader Abdullah Öcalan, must be adhered to.
The conditions of Mr Abdullah Öcalan, who has shown with his call that he is capable of silencing weapons, must be immediately improved to allow him to proceed with stronger steps towards peace, through his release from Imrali, unconditionally. The obstacles preventing Mr Öcalan from sharing his vision for the future of Turkey, the region, and even the world, which he has been preparing for years, must be removed. We would like to ask our questions and learn more about Mr Öcalan’s ideas and proposals for the construction of a more just world. We believe that the way to accomplish this is through direct contact with Mr. Öcalan, without any obstacles between us. We want to see Leader Abdullah Öcalan, ask him questions and listen to his answers. We want to visit Öcalan!
